This book describes outcomes of the Maine Academy for School Leaders (MASL) a professional development program designed to improve student-learning outcomes through improved leadership performance. It evaluates the impact of new leadership behaviors on the 58 participants' schools. One-half of the participants were teachers or other staff who held nonadministrative positions. Some innovative features of the 16-month program included: (1) the concept that school leadership is a matter of a person's professional ambition rather than a function of his/her position; (2) leadership effectiveness requires behavioral change; and (3) change is the leader's personal responsibility. The chapters trace the evolution of MASL members' professional and personal development. Chapter 1 introduces the program and explains how the experiences of its participants were distilled to fit the framework of the book. Chapters 2 and 3 address the preparation stages for professional growth. The second chapter describes how participants assessed leadership needs in their schools and set development goals. Chapter 3 explores the process of specifying and refining these goals for action. Chapters 4 through 6 document the processes by which MASL members changed their leadership behaviors. The fourth chapter describes what happened as members adopted new behaviors in their daily school lives. Chapters 5 and 6 discuss the roles and influences of the Support and Development Teams and the MASL facilitators. Chapters 7 and 8 examine the effects of these efforts to change, reporting the evaluations of progress by members themselves and by others. The concluding chapter reflects on the nature of leadership development and the prospects of linking leadership growth to student performance. Appendices contain documents used by the program--diagnostic tools, a leadership-development plan, a team evaluation form, and a portfolio of leadership training. Contains 24 references. (LMI)